York County Beekeepers Association

Karen Thurlow, Master Beekeeper, formerly of New Moon Apiaries in Yarmouth, Maine, now living in New Brunswick, Canada spoke on Spring Management. Karen believes you cannot “beekeep” by the calendar but need to know the phenology (nature’s calendar) where your bees are kept. Pollen is essential for brood rearing and if natural pollen isn’t available, say it rains for a week, then pollen substitute in the hive would help keep the bees and brood alive. Keeping track, every year, of

Erin McGregor-Forbes, EAS Certified Master Beekeeper, Co-owner of Overland Apiaries and Director of Finance and Administration at Maine Audubon Society, spoke at the February 8, 2021 meeting on bee health, sustainability and the Sentinel Apiary Program through Bee Informed Partnership. Maine has a Pollinator Protection Plan which was put in place in 2017.  Maine is ideal for beekeeping with diverse ecosystems, forage, good land and environmental management and clean water, but parasites, viruses, bacteria, fungi, pesticides, climate change and genetic

Carol Cottrill, Master Beekeeper and newly retired Secretary of EAS, spoke at the December 14, 2020 meeting on preparing and making products from beeswax. Prior to this meeting Carol supplied a PDF of her product recipes with a list of suppliers of oils and packaging. These recipes look easy to do. I hope you all will give it a try. Some properties of beeswax are 1) it is insoluble in water and having a density of 0.95, floats; 2) it

december Snow is falling and the bees are tucked in snug for the winter. Beekeepers can finally relax curled up next to a warm wood stove, enjoying a big mug of tea with honey and catching up with new bee books (or old classics) and their favorite bee periodicals. Organizations across the country are sponsoring webinars on various aspects of beekeeping this winter, so it’s a great time to learn something new.